Biden set to meet with Covid-19 team and deliver remarks

CNN, WFOR

By Maegan Vazquez, CNN

President Joe Biden will receive a briefing from his Covid-19 response team and deliver remarks on the Omicron variant Tuesday afternoon, as the US reached more than 100,000 hospitalizations due to to the illness for the first time in four months.

“In the briefing, the President will hear about the latest resources and personnel being sent to states and local communities to help with staffing needs and hospital capacity Covid-19 treatments. He will also hear from the doctors about the latest data on the Omicron variant, including that while cases continue to increase, fully vaccinated and boosted Americans that get infected are not likely to have severe symptoms,” an official told CNN Monday night.

“In brief remarks, the President will address the American people on these updates, as well as the importance of continuing to use the tools we know protect the American people — vaccines, boosters and masking.”

The Omicron variant caused 95.4% of new Covid-19 cases in the US last week — significantly higher than the previous week, according to estimates posted Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Biden and his team have yet to disclose comprehensive details about a critical portion of a plan announced last month to tackle Covid-19 this winter — an initiative to distribute half a billion tests for free using a website.

The administration is still in the procurement process, an official said. Health experts have warned the nationwide shortage of rapid at-home tests is coming during a critical period for testing as the Omicron variant disrupts daily life.

The CDC, meanwhile, is expected to update its guidance on the recommended isolation period, according to a source familiar with the plan, after the agency faced pressure to include a testing component in its new shortened isolation period.

Earlier Tuesday, the CDC also backed two major US Food and Drug Administration decisions.

The CDC announced its support of the FDA’s recommendation to shorten the time needed between completing an initial series of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 and a booster shot from six months to five months, as well as its call to authorize a third dose of the primary vaccine series for some immunocompromised children ages 5 to 11.

In the same announcement Monday, the FDA also authorized expanding booster eligibility to adolescents ages 12 to 15.

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CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Ben Tinker and Deidre McPhillips contributed to this report.